Proper project management

Running a construction project is like the ultimate juggling act. You start out with three rubber balls, then add a couple of dinner plates, and soon you’ve got flaming rods thrown in the mix. It’s not only overwhelming, but one wrong move, and everything tumbles.

Growers may hyper-focus on the growing aspect of their needs: lighting, benches, environmental controls and heating systems. And for good reason, says Christopher Block, chief operating officer at Dominion Builders, a design-build firm based in Miami. Dominion operates DAG, a division that specializes in the planning, design and construction of CEA facilities.

“While growers focus on the grow side, it’s ideal to have a single vendor who is responsible for basically the entire project from initial concept to completion,” he says. “Our approach is a single source — single source of accountability and single source of management for the entire project. We hire and coordinate with the architect, the engineers and all of the specialty vendors that are needed for a CEA project.”

Greenhouse Management talked with Block about what to know when using a design-build firm for a CEA project.

Kelli Rodda: What are the benefits of using a design-build company for a CEA project?

Christopher Block: In our case, we act as the general contractor, and the goal is to ensure a really tight coordination between all of the different disciplines involved in the project. And I point that out because I think the single biggest pitfall people run into is a lack of coordination between all of those entities, disciplines, parts and pieces. The projects are complex, and there are a lot of moving parts. When you’re trying to do a project of this scope on your own, you’re likely not connecting all the dots at a very early stage.

KR: What are the stages of project development?

CB: Foundational planning is what we call the initial stage. And that means taking a holistic view of the entire project. At a very early stage, before we do any sort of hard architecture engineering or put a lot of resources into the development of construction documents, many other issues must be worked out. For example, a grower may want to commit to a specific kind of artificial lighting early on. If we can zero in on what the customer wants, not only can we determine how much it costs so it can be added to the budget, but we can start to coordinate those wants and needs with the other disciplines and make sure it’s fully integrated with all the systems.

The goal is to make as many decisions as early as possible, get them on paper and coordinate them with everything else so we can develop the foundational plan. That entails what a project is going to look like on paper, as well as a cost analysis. This is important before we decide to keep going and really put resources into the next phase, which is pre-construction. Before we start pre-construction, we want to round out this foundational plan and make sure we’ve sufficiently explored and answered the key questions and needs so that we can move seamlessly into pre-construction.

KR: Do you have any insights on budgeting?

CB: There are typically three major buckets for the budget of a CEA project. First, there are the growing aspects, which would be the greenhouse package, lighting, irrigation systems, mechanical systems — anything that’s required to grow. But you also have soft costs, such as the cost for your architect, your engineers or any other consultants that might be part of the design phase. Third are your hard costs like site work, earthwork, concrete, framing, things like that. Remember, it’s important to connect all of those together in the pre-construction phase. Once that’s all done, then we move into construction. During construction, the focus is on building in a timely manner so that first harvest can be as soon as possible so it can start generating revenue for the client.

If you’re trying to focus on figuring out the budget before you have established your program and put some resources towards articulating that program in the form of a preliminary design, you’re probably wasting your time.

In our experience for most greenhouse projects, it’s typical for what I call the non-growing aspects of the project to take up about half the budget, which is substantial. And when a company, particularly a startup or a new business, isn’t focused on that aspect of the budget, that could be a recipe for heartache. A lot of these projects are in the tens of millions of dollars, so you need that partner to help avoid that heartache.

KR: Who are some entities growers will encounter in construction?

CB: A grower will encounter different levels of municipal oversight, depending on your location. We’ve built projects in areas where there are no inspections. We applied for the permit, it was issued and we built it. But there are instances where there are very tight regulations by the building department, and, depending on the municipality we’re in, we’ve got to work hand in hand with that municipality to make the project happen. That adds time and complexity and sometimes costs. As a grower, it’s important to build a relationship with the municipality. And in a lot of areas, they’re grateful to have someone building an indoor farm in their county or township. You don’t want to get a project underway and find out that the building department is full of obstructionists and make it difficult. That also pertains to relationships with your utility providers. These are all important factors for siting a project.